Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 44: Convincing the Public
On their way back to the village, the group encountered several people. Fortunately, they were all law-abiding citizens, and they obediently avoided the group with their hostile gazes.

When these people set off in the morning, they were all dejected and resentful.

When they came back, they all stood tall, as if they had done something amazing.

Beijiwu rode his horse back to the center of the village and looked at the grain that was still drying.

"Why are you taking so long to get things done? The grain must be dried and stored by tonight. If it gets moldy or stolen, I'll rip a handful of hair off anyone who dares to steal even a single grain!"

Arctic warfare has become more violent than usual.

The group of elderly women, men, and children left behind in the village all looked at him with fear, not daring to utter a single word of argument.

Their sons and husbands were standing on the Arctic side at that moment.

Beijiwu is not the kind of person who is reasonable. The entire village, young and old, was slapped by him this morning, and the swelling has not yet gone down!

There were over a hundred people in the village, and over a hundred of them were beaten. Anyone over ten years old was slapped.

"Get to work! Grandpa will come by before sunset this afternoon!"

Beijiwu said a few words and then rode away on his horse.

The horse he was riding didn't belong to the Arctic Warriors, but now it's the era of village collectives, so it's not a big deal for Arctic Warriors to ride a horse.

After Bei Jiwu walked away, Aunt Beigong cursed viciously, "You son of a bitch, always acting all high and mighty in the village!"

Upon hearing this, Bei Gong Dingbian quickly stopped him, saying, "Are you out of your mind? If the clan chief hears this, he'll punch you to death!"

Looking at her son, Aunt Beigong felt utterly hopeless. "You men can't even beat him by yourself?"

The group of men all looked quite grim.

Ma Lao Er said, "If you want to die, go hang yourself. Don't drag your son and grandson down with you, and don't drag us down with you either."

Ma Laosan said, "I told you long ago that we can't beat them. The clan chief alone could kill our whole village."

Kitada Torata said, "I asked you to do some work, but you're dawdling. Just finish the work quickly and everything will be fine."

Beitian Biao said, "Wife! Get to work! The clan chief said we'll buy a few more cows next year to clear land."

Bei Gong Dingbian said, "Today, the chieftain beat up a member of a Hu tribe. That person gave the chieftain five gold leaves, saying they were worth fifty taels of silver, enough to buy five cows!"

Mu Chuanliang said, "The clan chief has already asked the people in Hutou Town for a lot of things. From now on, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar will all be exchanged for grain. Hurry up and collect the grain."

The others also chimed in with their criticisms of Aunt Beigong.

"Why did you let your son fight the clan chief? He got killed by the clan chief with one punch. Who will take care of you in your old age?"

"This is just a little work, it can be done easily, you woman, you talk too much nonsense."

"The clan chief just paid his taxes. If you take him away, will your family have to pay their taxes next?"

A group of men, young and old, criticized Aunt Beigong.

Aunt Beigong was so angry that she sat down on the ground and started crying loudly. The old women and wives in the neighborhood knew at this moment that their husbands would never stand up for them.

If you're bullied by Arctic militants, so be it; no one will stand up for you.

So if you don't want to be bullied, you have to be obedient and listen to others to avoid getting beaten up.

At this moment, Beijiwu arrived at his doorstep and said to Wen Jinglun, who was still following him, "Alright, my house is just ahead. You can go back now."

Wen Jinglun wanted to go in for a drink of water, but he could only manage a helpless smile and say, "Alright, I'll be going then."

Beijiwu ignored him and continued riding his horse closer to the courtyard, carrying two gourds of soy sauce and vinegar, as well as a jar of oil in a ceramic pot.

After meeting the Beiji Wu family, Wen Jinglun left, carrying a bellyful of resentment.

"gentlemen!"

Li Hong and Li Bing came out to greet him, and after Bei Jiwu dismounted, they pulled on the horse's reins.

Bei Jiwu said, "This horse belongs to the Kitada family. Take it back to him. Here's the oil and soy sauce I bought today." "Okay, sir." Li Hong smiled and took the things, then accompanied Bei Jiwu into the house.

Li Bing led the horse outside, returning it to its original location, without even letting it stay to drink water.

Beijiwu went into the yard to take off his clothes and take a bath, while the little girls helped him wipe his back, and he listened to the chirping of the chickens in the yard.

Several chicks have died, but there are still quite a few left.

The mortality rate for chicks is usually quite high; it's considered low if more than half die.

After riding horses all morning, Beijiwu ate lunch and then lay down under the grape trellis for a nap. He was on a straw mat, and little girls were fanning him with their own hand-woven fans.

While Beijiwu and the children were resting and taking a nap in the yard, Li Bing, Li Hong, Xiulan, and Jiang Rong all went to the village to help.

Wearing a straw hat, Aunt Zhang bent over and used a long rake to turn over the wheat on the ground, so that the wheat underneath could also be dried in the sun.

"Mom, let me help you."

Xiulan came over and offered to help Aunt Zhang with her chores.

Aunt Zhang got up and watched her daughter and the other women from Beijiwu come over. She took off the cloth around her neck and wiped the sweat from her face.

"Why are you here? Where's Xianglan?"

Xiulan replied, "Xianglan and Xidanjiangcao are keeping the master company while he sleeps, and Conglian is taking care of the children and watching over them at home."

Aunt Zhang nodded. "Okay, I'll have some water."

The Arctic Samurai family now consists of ten people.

Li Hong, Li Bing, Xiu Lan, Xiang Lan, Gao Cong Lian, Ai Xi Dan, Xiao Gou Er, Jiang Rong, Jiang Cao, Bei Ji Wu.

Jiang Rong swept the floor with a broom.

An old woman nearby saw this and went back to call for help.

Not long after, Jiang Rong's eldest son, Mu Lin, came over and helped Jiang Rong with the work.

Mu Chuanliang and his mother were working on the side, and the family did not say anything.

The short and thin Mu Lin was less than a meter tall. While helping his mother with chores, he asked, "Mom, where's my sister?"

Jiang Rong said softly, "I just finished eating and I'm at home sleeping with my husband. You should eat more so you can grow taller. Your sister eats three steamed buns and drinks three bowls of porridge in one meal."

After getting to know Beijiwu, Jiang Rong also hoped that her son, or her future child, could be as strong as Beijiwu and not be bullied by others.

Mu Lin obediently replied, "I understand, Mother."

Jiang Rong was well aware of the problems the child was facing, and comforted him, saying, "You don't have to pay taxes this year. Look at all the grain in this village, there's definitely enough to eat. In a few days, when the rice in the fields ripens, there will definitely be enough to eat."

Mu Lin also wanted to eat her fill. She always felt hungry at home and envied her younger sister and mother who could eat their fill.

Storing grain is a skill that all adult farmers possess, and building granaries does not require the command of Arctic military forces.

Under the arrangement of several elders, hundreds of villagers worked together to load the wheat that had been drying for six or seven hours into the granary.

Thirty to forty thousand catties of wheat is enough to feed the whole village for three months. This will be stored in the granary as life-saving food, and the power to use and distribute this food will be controlled by Beijiwu.

The rest of the people were responsible for supervision, specifically ensuring the grain warehouses did not catch fire or get stolen, not for supervising Arctic military operations.

It was all cleaned up before sunset, and Arctic Weapon closed the door after checking that everything was in order.

"Everyone should take a good rest these few days. Once the millet is ripe, harvest it as soon as possible to avoid any accidents."

"If you can't manage your own land, ask others for help. We're all neighbors, so don't be so formal. After the autumn harvest, the whole village will work together to cultivate the public fields."

Aunt Li asked, "What is the public field for?"

Beijiwu bluntly stated, "The public land is my land! From now on, you'll get work points for working for me!"

(End of this chapter)